The present disclosure relates generally to medical devices and methods, and more particularly to medical devices that use transmitted light, such as sensors.
This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art that may be related to various aspects of the present disclosure, which are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present embodiments. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.
In medicine it is often useful to monitor various characteristics of patient tissues, such as skin or internal tissues, as part of an early response and/or continuing treatment. For example, it may be desirable to use various techniques to initially measure and continuously monitor one or more physiological characteristics of a patient as part of the treatment process. It may also be desirable to monitor a patient's area of injury for various characteristics, such as characteristics indicative of infection or wound healing. Such techniques may utilize data collected by a sensor, lead, or contact that is typically directly over or in close proximity to the area of injury of the patient. For example, characteristics related to the status or operation of a patient's circulatory, muscular, or neurological systems may be initially measured and continuously monitored using various sensors placed on or within the patient and relayed to some external monitor that can then be assessed. When needed, sensors may be positioned directly on the monitoring site using straps or adhesives and removed afterwards.
Oftentimes, this medical examination may require the removal of a bandage from a sensitive tissue or area of injury. This removal could prove to be detrimental to the health and recovery of a patient with an open wound, where the exposed tissue may be susceptible to infection or blood loss. Additionally, the sensing and assessment of the various characteristics that are monitored may prove to be a difficult task when conventional monitoring equipment is unavailable. Other times, such as during surgery, sensitive and vital tissues may need to be monitored and bandaged simultaneously.